Various pots, containers, cans, and the like are traditionally used for the containment of soil or other growing medium(s) useful in growing plants. Typically, such devices form a containment vessel capable of protecting the plant root structure located within the growing medium from damage during the initial root growing/establishment stages. In addition, these devices aid in the continued development of a plant prior to permanent implantation.
It is often the case that a person desires to plant multiple plant varieties in an outdoor garden or landscape space. However, due to unforeseeable inclement environmental conditions or because of the activity of other family members, pets, pests, etc., such a garden or landscape is at risk of being damaged if it is not protected.
Consequently, it is an object of the present invention to provide a bottomless compartmentalized seed starting vessel which may be inserted directly in the ground and filled with a growing medium. This, in turn, provides designated regions within a single growing medium or existing location where each device or vessel may have select varieties of plants in which the growing medium may be individually tailored to the specific needs of the plants. Further, the plants may be offered protection from people and the elements by the device.
Commonly, “plant pots” or “plant containers” are manufactured from a variety of materials including but not limited to various clays, cements, metals, ceramics, plastics, and the like. Disposable plastic plant pots are frequently used in the nursery industry due to their relative low cost and structural rigidity. However, at least one shortcoming associated with these disposable plastic plant pots relates to removing the plant from the plant pot for replanting or implantation and the enclosed nature of the pots. Over time, the plant root system may become intertwined with the inner surface of the pot, making the removal of the plant root system from the disposable plastic plant pot difficult if not impossible. Often, the plant removal process results in substantial and irreversible damage to the plant root system. Further, such containers have a structure which does not support proper drainage thereby harming the plant.
Thus, there is a need for a temporary bottomless plant pot or seed starting apparatus that can protect the seeds/seedlings and be readily removable from the plant and root system when the time comes. The present invention and its embodiments meets and exceeds these objectives. Review of related technology:
U.S. Pat. No. 6,904,715 pertains to a panel for use as a side wall of a plant growth container. In one embodiment, the panel comprises an elongate cuspated sheet having apertures formed in at least some of the outwardly projecting cusps to facilitate air root pruning of the root structure of a plant grown within the container. The sheet includes a non-cuspated edge section, the non-cuspated edge section being co-operable with a complementary edge section of the same sheet or of an adjacent sheet. The co-operable edge sections form a guideway for holding means, the holding means passing along the guideway releasably hold the edge sections in use form a side wall of the container. A plant growth container having at least one panel as described is also disclosed.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,336,669 pertains to a container for planting seeds or seedlings either manually, mechanically, or by air drop. The container includes at least one tubular cone formed by fluid hardened by freezing and having a tapered lower end, an open upper end, and an inner cavity for receiving soil and a seed or seedling.
U.S. Patent Application 2003/0034266 pertains to a removable plant container for growing and transporting plants having a base member in communication with a lateral support wall. The base member (bottom of container) and lateral support wall define a receiving aperture, having a volume V, for receiving the plant and growing media therein. At least one removal device is in communication with the lateral support wall, the base member, or both. Actuation of the at least one removal device results in an increase in the volume of the receiving aperture from volume V to volume V′, thereby permitting the removal of the plant and growing media without damage to the plant root system of root ball.
U.S. Patent Application 2002/0005011 pertains to a bottomless compartmentalized in-ground garden container for transplanting plants that includes a rigid outer wall defining a perimeter and having opposite upper and lower edges around the perimeter. Rigid compartment walls extend at least partially across the perimeter. The compartment walls intersect the outer wall and other compartment walls so as to form compartments within the perimeter. The upper edge of the outer wall has a widened portion so as to have a thickness greater than a thickness of the lower edges of the outer wall and the compartment walls. The lower edges of the outer wall and the compartment walls are adapted to slice into soil. The widened portion is adapted for distributing pressure applied manually downwardly by a downward hand pressure onto the widened portion so as to drive the lower edges of the walls into the soil. The container is bottomless so as to leave the outer walls and the compartment walls exposed to soil forced upwardly into the compartments.
European Application 0570060 pertains to a starter plant is planted in soil in a bottomless container, which is placed on a support surface. The plant is allowed to grow in a controlled environment until a time in its growing season when its root system is sufficiently developed to hold the soil in the container when the container is removed from the surface. Then, the plant and the container are planted as a unit in soil in a field. The plant is allowed to grow to full size in the field, where it develops a densely rooted basal plate inside the container and feeder roots that extend below the bottom of the container into the soil. The plant is harvested from the field by undercutting the feeder roots and removing the container and the plant as a unit from the soil. The foliage may be trimmed to a volume no bigger than the container, and the trimmed plant may be stored or shipped.
Various devices and methodologies are known in the art. However, their structure and means of operation are substantially different from the present disclosure. The present invention and its embodiments provide for an open bottom seed starting apparatus which may be comprised of a plastic or polymer material. The seed starting apparatus allows for direct sowing of seeds and a visual guide for proper spacing of the seeds. Further, a portion of the apparatus is present in the form of a tab removable from the remainder of the vessel body. The other known devices fail to demonstrate the superior germination rates and plant establishment exhibited by the present invention. At least one embodiment of this invention is presented in the drawings below and will be described in more detail herein.